This week, I paused my observations to explore two key resources that helped me clarify the theoretical dimensions of this shift.<\/p>\n
1. Vygotsky\u2019s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
\nIn a short but meaningful YouTube video, I learned how Vygotsky described the zone of proximal development (ZPD) as the gap between what learners can do independently and what they can do with the help of others. Vygotsky divides learning tasks into three zones:![\"\"](\"http:\/\/zihaoblog.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9304\/2025\/06\/ca54709b-3609-42e2-8e7d-ff6159a6db26.png\")
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- What the learner can do independently<\/li>\n
- What the learner cannot do, even with the help of others<\/li>\n
- ZPD = what the learner can do with the support of more knowledgeable others<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The role of the teacher, or the more knowledgeable other, is to provide \u201cscaffolding\u201d to help learners move beyond their current abilities. Learning is most effective in this zone because the task is neither too easy nor too challenging. It emphasizes the importance of social interaction, especially with tutors or peers, in promoting cognitive development. The role of the teacher should be proactive in designing instructional tasks so that they are within the ZPD, allowing students to learn efficiently.<\/p>\n
This theory aligns well with the idea of the facilitator: the facilitator does not provide answers, but rather guides thinking and problem solving, and then steps back as the learner grows.<\/p>\n
2. Teacher Presence in Online Learning \u2013 Barnes
\nThis article provided in class, I thought would be very helpful for my research topic. Barnes\u2019 article, \u201cWhere Are the Teachers? provides a powerful framework for thinking about the invisible but vital presence of teachers in online education. She argues that presence is more than just \u201cbeing seen\u201d; it is a pedagogical intention. \u201cTeacher presence means more than being visible; it means having a pedagogical intent.\u201d Barnes (2016)<\/p>\nShe describes three types of presence: social presence, cognitive presence, and pedagogical presence. Good facilitators are able to create opportunities for learners to communicate, reflect, and construct meaning, even if they are not always speaking. This expanded my understanding of \u201cteaching\u201d far beyond lectures \u2013 teaching is about the design of the learning experience. \u201cWhen there is a lack of instructor guidance, students can lose their way, become distracted, and struggle to connect ideas.\u201d Barnes (2016)<\/p>\n
This week has deepened my understanding of what it really means to be an educational facilitator. Through Vygotsky\u2019s concept of the \u201czone of proximal development,\u201d I have learned that effective teaching is not just about giving answers, but about providing the right amount of support for learner growth. Barnes (2016) expanded on this concept by stating that a teacher\u2019s presence does not depend on visibility but rather on intentional design, guidance, and creativity.<\/p>\n
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Barnes, C. L. (2016). Where\u2019s the teacher? Defining the role of instructor presence in social presence and cognition in online education<\/em>. In J. J. Stommel & S. Morris (Eds.), Humanizing online teaching and learning<\/em>. Retrieved from https:\/\/humanmooc.pressbooks.com\/chapter\/wheres-the-teacher-defining-the-role-of-instructor-presence-in-social-presence-and-cognition-in-online-education\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Helpful Professor Explains. (2021, Apr 7). Vygotsky\u2019s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) explained in 4 minutes<\/em> [Video]. YouTube. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sYF5HefF6wA<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After observing the behavior of teachers at Coursera and Outschool last week, I got to thinking: What does it mean to be a \u201cfacilitator\u201d in education? What theories support this shift from traditional teaching? This week, I paused my observations… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci339\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci339\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci339\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci339\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci339\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci339\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci339\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci339\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci339\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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